Community Corner
🌱 License Plate Vigilante + New Online Tax Bill + Bad Doctor
The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Brooklyn.
Hello, everybody. Carlie Houser here with your Tuesday edition of the Brooklyn Patch newsletter, full of all the community information you need to know right now. Today you'll learn about these stories and more:
- A Brighton Beach doctor and office manager charged with selling prescriptions for cash.
- New Yorkers could be paying 25 cents more for online purchases to fund BQE repairs.
- A Brooklyn journalist has taken it upon himself to make tampered-with license plates 'street-legal' again.
But first, today's weather: 🌤 Times of clouds and sun. High: 52 Low: 37.
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🗞 Top stories today in Brooklyn:
1. Bad doctor: A Brighton Beach medical professional and office manager were charged with selling prescriptions for cash. Indictments for grand larceny and health care fraud come after allegations that claim the defendants stole more than $700,000 in four years by fraudulently billing Medicaid for non-existent services and selling prescriptions for narcotics, opioids, and other controlled drugs to patients they were not treating. At the arraignment on Friday, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez took the opportunity to remind the court of the endemic opioid crisis still plaguing thousands of New Yorkers every year. (Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
2. A new tax bill in on the table in Albany, one that hopes to raise funds for repairing the BQE. State Sen. Andrew Gounardes introduced a bill last week that proposing to add a 25-cent tax to every online delivery sale made in NYC. Online sales are way up following the pandemic — these days, 2.3 million packages are delivered to New Yorkers every day. The new bill hopes that this additional tax will create revenue for the expensive repairs to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway as well as other key transportation infrastructure. (Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
3. The Nets lack of consistency is hurting Brooklyn as the team enters the final weeks of league play. It was an eventful weekend for the Nets who, on Saturday, managed a huge win against the Miami Heat, only to once again fall flat against the beatable Orlando Magic on Sunday. This up-and-down has become a trend for the Brooklyn team, who now, in the last weeks of the season, have found themselves caught in a battle to stay out of the play-in round. The Nets will play the Houston Rockets on Wednesday and have seven more games after to put themselves in good playoff standing. (AMNY)
4. A Brooklyn journalist and license plate vigilante has a major problem with plate-tampering. Former Brooklyn Paper editor Gersh Kuntzman now works as an editor and columnist for the Daily News, New York Post, and the website Streetsblog NYC. He's also somewhat of a Brooklyn Batman, who, since November, has been taking to the streets and making tampered license plates street-legal again. Armed with a camera, a catchy theme song, Sharpies and a screwdriver, Kuntzman has been taking to Twitter to post videos of himself coloring in the scratched off numbers and flattening out folded up plates in an act of defiant criminal mischief. (Brooklyn Magazine)
📆 Today in Brooklyn:
- Get prepared and received FREE AARP Tax Help at Brooklyn Public Library Central Branch (10:30 AM)
- 'Get Sketchy' at a FREE Drop-in Figure-Drawing Series taught by artist Edward Oluokun at Central Library (2:00 PM)
- Kosha Dillz is presenting SoulVey Spring Fling Comedy and Jazz at Time Out Market (6:30 PM)
- Don't miss NYC artists L'Rain, June McDoom, Fusilier performances at Union Pool (7:00 PM)
- New Women Space is offering its final Stand Up Comedy class for aspiring comedians (7:00 PM)
🐝 Brooklyn Buzz:
- 📸 "Among the greats to capture track and field with his camera was the late Bob Coglianese, longtime New York racing photographer and chronicler of many of the 20th Century's iconic moments [...] Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Bob Coglianese lost his father as a young man, his uncle Mike Sirico stepping in as his mentor in those early years. Sports always held a fascination for him, growing up a Dodgers fan, but the young Coglianese also spent days at the racetrack with Sirico, who was the track photographer for New York area tracks like Belmont and Aqueduct." (America's Best Racing)
- 🐶 "If you've been looking to add a four-legged ball of love and affection to your family, start with these Brooklyn area shelters for a pet up for adoption [...] Here at Patch, with a little help from our friends at Petfinder, we create a list each week of all the pets recently put up for adoption in your area. If you're a cat person, meet Carlton, a Domestic Short Hair up for adoption. Or if dogs are more your thing, there are several great dogs available, too." (Brooklyn Patch)
- 🍻 "Beer loving Brooklynites gathered over the weekend for the 35th anniversary of Brooklyn Brewery's inaugural lager, where they toasted to the iconic Kings County hops brand that's become a staple in the borough's ale scene." (Brooklyn Paper)
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Featured events:
- Vision Board Standup Comedy Show has an amazing show this Thursday! (March 30)
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You're all caught up for today. I'll see you around!
— Carlie Houser
About me: I'm a recent grad based in Brooklyn, NY. I love to write, run, read, and find new restaurants and venues around the city.
Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Brooklyn Patch newsletter? Contact me at brooklyn@patch.com
